Sango's son, and Miroku's daughter
by kenkuma
Summary: AU but that doesn't meant that it's not good!What if Sango and Miroku were single teen parents? Could they help each other solve their problems? Could they learn to love again?
1. Chapter 1

DISCLAIMER: I do not own Inuyasha or any related characters. The story and art is property of the great Rumiko Takahashi. This fan fiction is for entertainment purposes only, and in no way will be used for my betterment. I wrote this because I admire the owner's work and wish to daydream about the characters.

Go easy on me. I apologize if they are a little ooc...but overall I'll try to make them work Also if anyone can tell me the name of the girl that had agreed to Miroku's question, I'd be much appreciative..nreep!

SANGO'S SON, AND MIROKU'S DAUGHTER

_summary: Miroku and Sango are single parents facing problems of their own. Can the two help each other out? Will they ever be willing to love again?_

Chapter 1

_Miroku sat back on his heels, trying to get the kink out of his neck and ignore the soreness of his back. He was tired, having spent most of the night up worried. It felt like eternity before the sun rose. Now Miroku was scrubbing the floors of the small and humble shrine that his adoptive father and him ran. But the old drunkard's habits quite often left him taking care of everything._

_The early morning sun rays beat down on his wet hands, and warmed his neck, slightly coated with sweat from his activities so far that day. He wore a simple black and purple t-shirt and blue jeans, rumpled from attempts to sleep, and dirty from the day before. He'd been so anxious that he hadn't bothered to get changed. Miroku's black hair was pulled back in a loose ponytail, messy from once again, not having anything done to it in the last twenty four hours. Purple rings of lack of sleep matched the violet colored iris of his._

_Miroku bent back down, and continued to scrub at the floor boards, aware that Mushin was approaching him._

"_It's good to see you getting to work already. Finish the floors, then go polish the bells. I'll handle the guests," Mushin said. Miroku focused on a single spot, and put his muscles behind trying to eradicate it. He didn't even look up when he answered._

"_Are you sober?"_

"_Enough," Mushin replied. It was the typical answer. Miroku had come to learn that it meant, 'No..And now that you've mentioned it...'. The drunkard lifted his already half emptied bottle of sake to his lips. It had been a tough night on both of them._

"_Go back inside. I can handle it today. Opening the shrine a little later in the day isn't going to kill business." Miroku said tossing his rag into the soapy water. He was fifteen years old since Monday. That was five days ago...he felt like he was twenty._

_The old man looked at this strange boy. His father had come up to him years ago, and the two had opened this small Buddhist shrine. Then sometime after Miroku was born the mother died, followed after by the husband. Miroku had been old enough to remember his dad, but not enough his mother. "Alright then. I'll trust you"_

_His words hurt Miroku more then he would let on. But then again, the would be monk always was good at hiding his emotions away. What he wanted then was to turn to Mushin and yell at him, 'No you can't trust me! Just look at what trusting me got us!'. Instead he simply went away with his bucket to do his other tasks._

_Sometime after noon when Miroku was sitting on the footbridge over a goldfish pond, Mushin approached him once again. Miroku's body tensed up in preparation of the news. He looked calm otherwise, eyes closed and head tilted up to the cloudless sky, one leg dangling into the water, the other drawn up to his chest, where his head rested. His left arm hung at his side, and the right fiddled with the silver ring on his middle finger. "Well?"_

"_She's fine, everything went o.k. considering.. well you know" Mushin rushed out to say._

_Miroku breathed a sigh of relief, his shoulders relaxing. "And..."_

"_Healthy and strong, a beautiful little girl." he finished, placing one of his massive hands on Miroku's head, giving it a small shake. Miroku looked up to him, weak smile on his face. "Congratulations."_


	2. Chapter 2

DISCLAIMER: I do not own Inuyasha or any related characters. The story and art is property of the great Rumiko Takahashi. This fan fiction is for entertainment purposes only, and in no way will be used for my betterment. I wrote this because I admire the owner's work and wish to daydream about the characters.

Sorry that I took so long. I graduated...and the other story I had already typed out the next chapters for...nreep!

SANGO'S SON, AND MIROKU'S DAUGHTER

Chapter 2

_Sango rubbed her eyes. Piles of textbooks and notebooks were stacked in front of her. She grabbed the history one and opened it to finish the assignment. Halfway through a paragraph she had to stop. Somehow she'd forgotten everything leading up to that part of the chapter. Angerly she back tracked in hopes_ _that something would click. She had to get this down. She had to be able to graduate on time next year. And her grades had to be good if she was going to be accepted anywhere. It was all part of the plan. Though lately Sango could care less about the person she'd made the plan with. He'd left her in the lurch. After saying he'd wait forever for her, he left her._

_At least she still had her family..._

_The pain was getting to be more constant now. Soon she'd be a mother, left with a son of a man that she had once loved. Or maybe it just felt like love to her at the time. Either way it would be her and the kid against all odds. Sango liked the sound of that. She rubbed one hand over her swollen stomach smiling._

"_Hey there baby...I can't wait to see you" she said softly._

_A couple hours later Sango was exhausted. Her hair was mussed up and her bangs stuck to her forehead with sweat. But she'd done it. Everything went perfectly smooth. One of the nurses joked that he wanted to get out in the world as soon as possible. Sango couldn't help but smile._

_Somebody asked her if she'd like to see her son. Of course she said yes. The doctor handed her a squirming bundle of flesh and cloth. He had his mother's eyes, and a few wisps of chocolate brown hair like her. Other then that he was identical to the father, only in miniature. Small fists kept hitting his eyes, thankfully in little mitts to keep him from hurting himself. He was going to be a heart breaker someday._

_She held him gently, almost afraid that she would brake him. He wiggled a lot in her arms. Sango tried to remember if her little brother Kohaku had been so animated when he was that small. Was Kohaku ever that small? Somehow she doubted that. And to think of herself being so little and new to the world was just impossible._

"_It's you and me baby, you and me," Sango whispered to it, carefully rubbing his back, "Welcome to the world"_

_The child's eyes focused on her for a second when she said that, a small little grin in them like he knew something that she didn't. It was breathtaking. Sango felt so amazed. _

"_If they could make a crayon the color of a new born baby it would be the most beautiful hue in the world..." she thought to herself._


	3. Chapter 3

DISCLAIMER: I do not own Inuyasha or any related characters. The story and art is property of the great Rumiko Takahashi. This fan fiction is for entertainment purposes only, and in no way will be used for my betterment. I wrote this because I admire the owner's work and wish to daydream about the characters.

Well people wanted me to update. So today I'm offering a special deal!nreep!

SANGO'S SON, AND MIROKU'S DAUGHTER

Chapter 3

Kohaku pressed his hands to his ears, shut his eyes, and tried to block out the crying. No, not crying. Screaming.

"Do something," he demanded of Sango, who at the moment looked like she was about ready to burst into tears. She also had her eyes shut, but her hands were filled with a bawling, kicking, unhappy one year old boy with a mop of brown hair.

"I am I am!" she said annoyed to her brother, then with a calmer voice, tight with pain, "Come on Isamu ...please stop crying. _Please!_" Sango tried bouncing her baby boy on her hip like her mother use to, but that wasn't putting an end to the tears. It just made him sound like he was doing a Tarzan yell. What could he possibly want? She just finished feeding him, and it probably wasn't a diaper change he needed. At least Sango hoped it wasn't. If Isamu was sick... She shook her head. He couldn't be sick. There just wasn't enough money for him to be. "What is it Isa?"

Isamu kicked his legs harder, "Down!" he cried. Sango put him down on the ground, looking about to make sure that he wouldn't get hurt wandering about on his little legs. It seemed like Isamu always wanted to be going someplace. He continued to cry as he toddled about the small two room apartment.

Sango sighed. She was sick of this place. The wallpaper was pealing, the faucet leaked constantly, and there was usually a foul smell from the flat across the hall. If she closed her eyes tight enough she could picture the perfect little home for them all. Kohaku wouldn't have to share a room with his nephew. She felt so guilty. It was like she'd taken Kohaku's youth away from him by asking him to help out so much. The kitchen would have a cook to make them all meals. She'd be able to wash their laundry in her own machines instead of feeding coins to a public one.

Isamu's cries brought her back to reality. Kohaku had removed his hands from his ears and was heading to the closet. He pulled out from it the old stroller and Isamu's coat. He turned to his older sister asking her permission with his eyes.

"Kohaku! You are a genius!" Sango exclaimed, scooping up Isamu and sticking him in his stroller. He loved that thing! Maybe a walk would calm him down. And Kohaku could play ball in the park with the other kids. He could be one of the boys again. The park certainly would give her a break.

She struggled to get the coat on her son. He wiggled around so much that she finally gave up. Why did he always have to be on the go? Couldn't he just relax and sit still for a minute?

"You are impossible," she muttered to him, tickling him under the chin. Isamu's tears stopped and he gave her a goofy grin.


	4. Chapter 4

DISCLAIMER: I do not own Inuyasha or any related characters. The story and art is property of the great Rumiko Takahashi. This fan fiction is for entertainment purposes only, and in no way will be used for my betterment. I wrote this because I admire the owner's work and wish to daydream about the characters.

Well people wanted me to update. So today I'm offering a special deal!nreep!

SANGO'S SON, AND MIROKU'S DAUGHTER

Chapter 4

Miroku closed his eyes, tired from the throng of business. It was a pleasantly warm day with just the perfect number of clouds in the sky for daydreaming and seeing shapes. Other then the rush of tourists it was a quiet day.

This worried him.

He didn't like it when it was a quiet day. It left him nothing to do other then take care of the shrine and Rei, and if he wasn't sober, Mushin. Though it was hard to picture him as sober. Five years of having a little girl around the place hadn't been enough to change his drinking habits.

Miroku's fingers twitched as he began adding up the days profits. The summer had just begun, the days still not too hot, the nights crisp. Hopefully this would be a good year not only for the shrine, but the ones who resided there as well. Pleased with the number he obtained he let his mind wander.

_Juice,_ Miroku thought, _fruit juice and milk for Rei, veggies, soap, a new key for Mushin's cupboard, not to mention a new lock, and for me...for me..._

He stopped his shopping list there. What did he want? Six years ago he'd have no problem figuring out long and extensive lists of thing he desired. As he contemplated this Miroku dug around in the robes he wore when working at the shrine and extracted a scrap of paper and a nub of a pencil. One hand played with the small gold hoops in his ear while the other scrawled out what he needed to buy on his next shopping excursion.

"What are you doing Miroku?" Mushin asked taking him by surprise. Instead of the usual bottle of sake that Miroku was convinced had been attached to the elder since birth was his young daughter, a few days shy of five years old, still napping. She wore an indigo t-shirt and yellow shorts that had been his a long long time ago. Mushin had sewn up the holes in it so that they looked slightly less used. Her ebony hair was swept back into a ponytail like her father's, only hers was longer. She'd need a haircut soon.

It saddened Miroku that his little girl couldn't wear a nice new pretty dress. She deserved it after being so brave so many times in the doctors office being tested. But Rei didn't seem to mind that her wardrobe was hand-me-downs. She also didn't seem to mind that her daddy had to work hard a lot and she was left with Mushin-san. Some mornings Rei would help out by cleaning small things. She was a hard little worker.

"Just jotting down some groceries." Miroku mumbled, "Then I'll get right back to work."

Mushin let out a heavy sigh and took a seat next to him. He placed Rei down, and she woke up immediately, smile on her face and her dark eyes with just the slightest hint of purple in them dancing. Rei scooted over next to her dad and wound her fingers in his robes.

"How long has it been since you spent some time with Rei?"

At the sound of her name Rei's smile increased ten fold. Miroku found himself stumped at the last time he'd spent more then just ten minutes with her before rushing off to do some more work. He'd just been so busy lately. And yet Rei adored him never the less. Miroku decided then he'd have to buy her a new dress that she could wear on her birthday and feel like the princess she was in his eyes.

"Why don't the two of you go to the park. It's been a while" the older monk suggested. Miroku nodded his head. The park would be nice. And it had been a long time since he'd gone anyplace where there might be large numbers of people.

"Come on Rei-chan," Miroku said standing up, "Let's get your bucket and ball and go to the park."

Rei's smile burst even larger, if that was humanly possible and she dashed into the part of the shrine that they lived in. Miroku dusted off his robes, and slowly began heading after her. He'd have to get changed first.

"And while your in the park find a nice girl!" Mushin called out.


	5. Chapter 5

DISCLAIMER: I do not own Inuyasha or any related characters. The story and art is property of the great Rumiko Takahashi. This fan fiction is for entertainment purposes only, and in no way will be used for my betterment. I wrote this because I admire the owner's work and wish to daydream about the characters.

Been a while nch? Well I can explain. I've been working on my other fan fiction and also my own personal story line thingy with this half vampire named Kazuki, called Sho because of something having to do with his brother that is a full vampire (Sho's only a half because he's never taken human blood before. Or any blood...just milk.) Once I get it all done I'll give anyone who wants the link the link. And now, back to the action nreep!

SANGO'S SON, AND MIROKU'S DAUGHTER

Chapter...5?

"Mm." Rei mumbled contently as she munched on her hot dog with extra mustard. Her eyes closed and a happy little sigh escaped from her upturned lips. She took another bite, smearing the bright yellow mustard on her cheeks. Joy emanated from her small frame.

"Good huh?" Miroku asked as he fumbled about with his money, paying the vendor for her little treat and a small soda for himself. He gave her hair a rough tussle, sending giggles through her. It made him feel proud that he could make her so happy. Her head bobbed up and down underneath his hand.

"Mm.." she repeated, offering up the processed meat to him. He took a polite sized bite from it before giving it back and taking a sip from his soda.

"Why don't we got sit over there in the shade to eat Rei-chan?" Miroku suggested. Once again Rei bobbed her head in the affirmative. She raced off to a bench underneath a tree, ebony hair trailing along in the breeze, blissfully unaware of the biker speeding towards her.

"Rei-chan!" Miroku called out running to protect her. Rei froze in place, turning around to look at him, golden smile on her face. She dashed back to him, the biker whizzed past, and she was safe. Miroku heaved a sigh of relief. He needed to be able to keep up with her better.

"I'm going to go see if I can join that baseball game sis," Kohaku said pointing over his shoulder at a game going on with boys and girls about his age.

"Alright have fun," Sango said lifting Isamu out of his carriage and letting him roam in the grass. He hadn't gone more then a few steps before rushing back to her very excited. The excursion had banished all his tears, as this sort of thing always did. The little one grabbed a hold of her hand.

"Yah! Yah!" Isamu exclaimed, pulling her hand more. Sango complied at let him lead her. "Aku! Aku!" he said pointing to the baseball game Kohaku had joined.

"I think you're a little too little to play that. Why don't we go on the swings instead?"

The swings were located in a large sandbox that was oddly empty for such a fine day. One solitary girl was playing in the sand, working on a castle with the red bucket at her side. To the side a group of three people, the youngest with his back turned to her around her age, and a dog were talking about some kind of program and the time of the next meeting. Behind the sandbox a rather large woman, around late thirties, looked just like Sango had before coming to the park thanks to her four boys tumbling on top of each other. Seeing as the infant swing was un-occupied Sango plopped Isamu in it and began to push him. He shrieked with joy.

"I'm fly'n, I fly'n!" he repeated over and over, clapping his hands each time he reached the zenith. Sango kept an eye on Isamu, but couldn't help but watch the young girl playing. She seemed so sure of herself as her hands moved across the sand. She was making a fantastic castle for someone her age. One of the four young boys came over, smiled at the young girl, then kicked the sandcastle.

Rei quickly covered her face with her arms to keep the sand from flying into her eyes. But she didn't make a peep. Not even once the boy had finished demolishing her hard work. After a few seconds of sorrow she grabbed her bucket to start over, only to have it snatched away. Again she made no protest.

Sango on the other hand did. Loudly.

"Give that back and say you're sorry!" she demanded of the boy. Isamu's swing kept swinging, so he didn't complain when his mother stepped in front of the stranger. In fact he watched with great interest.

The boy stuck out his tongue, Sango mocked him, Rei looked sheepishly at the ground.

"Na-ah! It's mine!" the boy insisted, clutching the bright red bucket to his chest.

"It is not! She had it long before you came over!"

Isamu began to squirm and make unhappy noises. His swing had stopped.

"Okasan! Okasan!"

The trio with the dogs turned around, and the youngest one, the male about Sango's age rushed to Rei's side.

"Daijoubu ka Rei-chan?" Miroku asked as he began to brush the sand off of her legs and arms. Rei nodded her head.

The large woman came rushing over to her son, her face crimson by the time she got to him. "What's wrong Ken'ichi sweetie?" she asked, her voice dripping with honey. Sango made a face and a small, almost unnoticeable retching sound. Miroku caught it, and shook his head, smirk on his face.

"That girl took my bucket, so I asked her to give it back, but she didn't say anything, so I took it and then that strange lady yelled at me and said that it was the girl's and that I should say I'm sorry!" Ken'ichi blubbered, clutching the mother's skirt. She gave Sango a filthy look.

"Gomen nasai, but your son is a liar. She was building a sandcastle before Ken'ichi even came over," Sango blurted out, smoothing her own skirt, the same shade of green as the grass.

"My son doesn't lie!"

"I tell you he does!"

Miroku watched the two mothers jump at the other one's throat, each one trying to say that they were right. He shuddered. _Never attack a mother's child, they fight to the death for them, even if it isn't their child. _

Sensing that there would soon be a conflict if he didn't speak up, Miroku butted in.

"Shitsurei, but I think that this matter can be solved quite simply."

All eyes turned to him. Miroku took the bucket from the boy, receiving a death glare from the older mother.

"If your son was telling the truth then there shouldn't be the name Rei on the bottom of the bucket with a picture of a shrine. If this lovely lady," he nodded to Sango, getting a death glare from her and making her blush, "is telling the truth there should be one. Rei-chan could you please turn over the bucket?"

Rei turned the bucket over, her name scrawled on the bottom with permanent marker accompanied a badly drawn picture of the shrine that she lived in.

Ken'ichi's mother's face turned red again, first in humiliation, then in anger as she turned to her son. She grabbed his ear and walked off, yelling at the boy the whole way.

Miroku helped Rei fill the bucket as Sango stood over them, stunned.

"How did you know?" she managed to squeak out. For the first time Miroku looked directly at her, and she instantly saw the strong resemblance between him and Rei.

"I wrote her name on it before. She likes to help me clean up. And Rei-chan can't spell her last name so she drew the shrine on it."

Isamu cried louder, angry that he wasn't moving anyplace. Sango didn't react, so he began to try to get out of it.

"You might try to catch your little brother before he hurts himself."

Sango spun around, managing to pull Isamu out before he toppled over and into the sand, "Oh! He's not my little brother, he's my son." she said, fixing him on her hip, "Say hello Isamu."

"Hiya Isa!" Isamu said, laughing at his own joke.

Miroku's eyebrow arched. "Son? What's such a lovely young woman as yourself doing with a son?" he asked with a perverted smile.

Sango sent him the third death glare that day. "Going insane."

Someplace a bell rang in a tower, letting Miroku know the time. He stood up, brushing his knees off. Rei followed in suit. They better get going back if they wished to keep Mushin from breaking into his cabinet. He'd lost the key a few days ago, and tried to break the lock to his sake cabinet whenever Miroku's back was turned. It had been safe enough during business hours when he had work to distract him. He dug around in his pocket for a second before extracting a folded up piece of paper.

"Here you go, there's a meeting tonight at the location mentioned on that. It's a support group that should be able to help you from going insane. I suggest you go. It would be a pity to let such a lovely head hold a broken mind," he said as he began to walk away, giving her bottom a small pat as he walked past.

Translations

Okasan-mother

Daijoubu ka – are you alright?

Gomen nasai- I'm sorry

Shitsurei – Excuse me


	6. Chapter 6

DISCLAIMER: I do not own Inuyasha or any related characters. The story and art is property of the great Rumiko Takahashi. This fan fiction is for entertainment purposes only, and in no way will be used for my betterment. I wrote this because I admire the owner's work and wish to daydream about the characters.

No. Rei's mother did NOT die in childbirth. Mushin even said that she was alright...considering. Come on! Put one and one together people! Have you actually heard Rei say anything yet? nreep!

SANGO'S SON, AND MIROKU'S DAUGHTER

Chapter 6

Sango checked her watch for the tenth time, and then the paper that the man had given her in the park. She was at the right place, and at the right time, so where was everyone?

"Maybe it was a mistake coming." she said rocking Isamu gently. He'd dozed off on the bus ride over, and she wasn't ready to wake him up yet.

Footsteps announced the fact that somebody at last was headed her way, and from the sounds of it there were a few of them. Sango set Isamu down in the chair she'd been sitting in to go take a look.

A man and woman, obviously an old married couple, had their hands filled with boxes and other packages. They were the ones that had the dogs in the park earlier that day. Behind them were some more people, equally laden. The sight of Sango seemed to startle the woman for she nearly dropped everything that she was carrying.

"Well if it isn't the one who stood up for little Rei in the park! What are you doing here? Most people don't show up till the meeting's been going for a good five, ten minutes," she said, shuffling the boxes and causing one of the smaller ones to fall to the floor, "Can't find a babysitter, can't find the spare bottles, etcetera etcetera."

"Can I help you with those?" Sango asked, ignoring the question. She didn't think that this talking mound of cardboard really expected an answer. Grabbing the box that fell to the floor, among with a few others, she lead the way back to the room that she had just been sitting in and placed them carefully on the rug.

"Thank you so much. You really are an angel," the lady said as she also put down her load. She extended a hand to Sango. "My name's Yuri, but most people here call me Ojiisan. This is my husband, you can call him Obasan."

Sango shook her hand. "Nice to meet you Ojiisan and Obasan. My name's Sango and that sleeping lump is Isamu, my son. He's one and a handful."

"Ah! So that's why you're here. Well this is a support group for single parents, and normally we'd be doing some serious business. But tonight... we get ready to party." Obasan said. He opened up one of the boxes and pulled out a package of balloons. "Tomorrow one of our member's is celebrating her fifth birthday and we're going to through her a little surprise party. Would you care to help set up? You're more then welcome to come to the party"

As more people arived they all jumped in and started to set things up. Sango had fun talking to the other mothers about their children. Isamu was being entertained by Obasan blowing up balloons and tapping them like they were balls to him. His joyfilled shrieks filled the room at periodic intervals.

"Who's birthday is it?" Sango asked stretching to hang a streamer.

"Oh she's just the sweetest little thing isn't she?" one of the mothers said. Before Sango could ask who again other mothers jumped in on the conversation.

"Always so polite..."

"Never makes a fuss..."

"Wish she were mine..."

"But her father..."

"Tsk tsk..."

"Anyone in this room safe from Miroku?"

No response to that one, but still Sango didn't find out the name of the girl.

"Is this Miroku a bad father?"

Glances flickered about the room.

"Not bad persay.. just a little... friendly to the lady folk," Ojiisan finally said with a shrug of the shoulders.

"I bet that her mother loves that," Sango muttered. General shaking of heads.

"She doesn't know. Couldn't handle raising a child. She was a child herself. Miroku got custody, but just barely. He doesn't have the greatest paying job, and his guardian has problems of his own to sort out. But you have to give Miroku credit. He bares a great amount of resposibilites. Having to serve the temple, and most often run it single handed."

"Th' boy's grown up too quickly," Obasan interupted. "He had problems even before he became a father. And by th' looks of things he isn't going to get the chance to act his age."

That got the other mothers to lower their heads in shame. But Sango couldn't help but smirk. Many of them were like her, single parents with children but still in the high school age range, a few were older, more of the age her parents had been, and they all had been gossiping like the girls at school.

"He sounds... interesting.."


	7. Chapter 7

DISCLAIMER: I do not own Inuyasha or any related characters. The story and art is property of the great Rumiko Takahashi. This fan fiction is for entertainment purposes only, and in no way will be used for my betterment. I wrote this because I admire the owner's work and wish to daydream about the characters.

Sorry folks for the wait. I was transitioning computers and didn't wish to start a new chapter with my old computer. Now let's see. I'm on chapter seven with this one right? I think this one's going to end up longer then YMMB, which by the way now has NINE chapters. Yay! And now… on with the show! (er.. fanfic.)

nreep

SANGO'S SON AND MIROKU'S DAUGHTER

"Damn!" Miroku exclaimed after being bitten yet again by the scotch tape dispenser. He looked around to make sure that Rei wasn't nearby to hear him. In front of him sat a lumpy package, a dress that he'd spent the money he'd been saving for himself, in a box. He couldn't find the birthday wrapping paper and it was wrapped in newspaper. Newspaper that a shrine visitor had left behind. _I can't even afford a newspaper!_ He put his injured finger in his mouth, having just drawn blood.

"That's the fifth time tonight," Mushin said from his seat across the table. His present for Rei had already been neatly wrapped. Miroku envied him.

Miroku smiled though, "Why don't you do it then? I'll break into your cupboard for you if you do."

The old man nodded his head in consent and started to fix Miroku's bungled up job. "Get yourself a glass as well, you need it," his comment causing Miroku to wince. He was always was riding the elder monk about being a drunkard, yet he couldn't help but admit to himself that he liked sake as much. At least he didn't drink it in excess. Miroku grabbed the pliers and cut through the old lock opening the cabinet. Two glasses were poured. "Bring the bottle!" Mushin called.

"To the last five years," Miroku said, lifting his glass then throwing it down his throat like an expert. Mushin nodded and did the same.

"To the last seven years."

_He's already drunk…_ Miroku thought with an eye roll. "Rei's only five, nothing's happened in seven years"

Mushin poured himself more rice wine. He stared at the liquid a moment or two. "Not quite. We had a bit of a scare when you were sick…."

_So that's what he was talking about. _"I was dying admit it."

"Yes.. you were…"

Miroku helped himself to more wine. "So what it wasn't a great deal or anything. I got better, end of story."

Calmly Mushin put down his cup and finished wrapping the present before continuing. "It was a miracle."

Miroku's cup slammed down on the table, spilling the contents slightly. "There's no such thing as a miracle. I just got sick of being dead!" His act of anger didn't seem to startle the monk though. He just continued to drink his sake. Miroku disgusted with the calm attitude got up, finishing off his second glass of wine, poured a third that he took with him. "I'm going to bed. You better be able to handle the shrine by yourself tomorrow."

Miroku sat on his bed, swirling his glass around, watching how the light played in the rich wine. He worried for a second that he might be becoming an alcoholic, but banished that thought quickly. He couldn't afford that. Who would take care of Rei?

Rei… he thought, taking a large sip. His eyes drooped severely, and he zoned out, thinking back years ago, before Rei, before there was even a chance of Rei. 

_Miroku, age ten, rubbed at his sore right arm. Having blood drawn always hurt him. But even with the horrible pain he'd grown use to it. At first he would cry, then his eyes just watered up. Now he didn't even register it. Everything was routine. He'd catch a small cold and instantly be dragged to the doctors. Blood would be drawn. While waiting for the lab results the cold excelled, and he'd be rushed to the hospital with high fevers and cold sweats. Last time he claimed that he'd seen his father at the foot of his bed._

_But this time it wasn't a cold that brought him in. He'd fallen down in the schoolyard and now was covered in bruises. Miroku hopped of the doctor's table, his legs shaking underneath him as he headed out the door to his guardian. Mushin stood there, drunk as usual, but his face grim…._

_And just a few days ago Rei hopped off the doctor's office, falling on her knees, standing up and brushing them off. She held out an arm expectantly waiting for the band-aid to be placed. She could handle having blood taken better then he had at that age. He could faintly remember clutching at his father's sleeve and burying his face in his shirt. All Rei wanted was his hand to hold on to._

"_The results should come back in a couple of days." The nurse told him in a whisper. Miroku nodded his head numbly._

"_What a brave little girl you are Rei-chan, why don't we get you a sticker?" the nurse said taking his daughters hand…_

A tugging at his arm woke up Miroku. He rubbed the sleep out of his eyes, "Rei-chan? Shouldn't you be sleeping?" he asked, still groggy and throat thick from his drinking. He finished off the glass quickly. Rei nodded her head, looking very guilty, and Miroku knew that she felt she had done something bad now.

"Aw, come here," he said pulling her onto his lap, "Too excited?" Rei shook her head no. "Bad dream?"

Rei played with her nightgown, which was just a shirt of Miroku's that shrunk in the wash, she nodded her head yes. She shook a little and buried her face in his torso. She didn't cry though, just shake.

Miroku fumbled around in the dark of his room till he found his hairbrush. With great care he started to brush out his daughter's hair, being extra careful of the tangles. The rhythmic pattern and soft swishing noise easily lured her back to sleep.

He sat there gently stroking her hair, his chin resting on the top of her head, for a few minutes before he picked her up and carried her back to her own room. Miroku tucked her in with a grin on his face.

"Happy fifth birthday tenshi…"


End file.
